Citi’s Chief Equity Strategist Sees US Growth

The so-called fiscal cliff might not be approaching as soon as some investors think, Citigroup’s chief U.S. equity strategist told CNBC on Wednesday.

In a recent survey, Citi’s Tobias Levkovich told “The Kudlow Report” that he actually saw improvement in the economic climate.

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There is more economic evidence out today suggesting there won't be a July recession, with Tobias Levkovich, Citi.

“Eighty percent of them told us — these are institutional investors — there will be some sort of extension, and then they’ll address fiscal reform next year. Corporates are doing the same. We looked at nearly 700 nonfinancial companies in the U.S.,” he said. “They are looking at a 13 percent increase in capital spending. In May, they were telling us 11 percent.”

Levkovich added a caveat in the numbers, which are not yet necessarily reflected domestically.

“Some of the spending may be going on overseas, but they don’t seem to be saying, ‘Hey, we’re really worried about Europe; we’re really worried about Asia; we’re really worried about the U.S.,’ ” he said. “They’ve actually accelerated some capital spending intentions — not hugely, but encouraging data. We’d love to see it get better. It’s not there yet.”